Verdict a 'death sentence, defeat of idea of India': Mufti

Kashmiri politicians on Monday described the Supreme Court verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 as “disappointing” and a “defeat of the idea of India”.

Hours after the verdict, Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state, said that the Supreme Court legalised the “illegal manner” in which the Bharatiya Janata Party abrogated the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir and it is no less than a “death sentence”.

"The SC has said that the Article 370 is temporary, which is why it was removed. This is not only our defeat but also the defeat of the idea of India. This is the defeat of the imagination of India, the Gandhian India with which Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, rejecting Pakistan, joined hands with the Hindus, Buddhists Sikhs and Christians, the country of Gandhi. Today marks the defeat of that idea of India," Mufti added.

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that he was “disappointed but not disheartened” with the judgement. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that the struggle will continue.

“It took the B J P [Bharatiya Janata Party] decades to reach here,” Abdullah said in a tweet.

“We are also prepared for the long haul.” People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone also echoed the sentiments of other Kashmiri politicians, saying that Monday’s judgement was “disappointing”.

Lone said: “Let us hope at a future date Justice wakes up from its slumber of pretence.”

Former Congress leader and Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad told the reporters that the verdict was “sad and unfortunate”.

The politician said that the Supreme Court was the last hope of the people in Kashmir to seek justice. The Congress also expressed its disagreement with the judgement on Monday.

“Prima facie, we respectfully disagree with the judgment on the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated,” Congress leader P Chidambaram said at a press conference.